


Waiting for Spring (Haru wo Matsu)

by MidoriKurenaiYume



Category: Fate/Zero, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Apologies, Arguing, Dialogue, Drama, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Love, Making Up, Pregnancy, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-11-01 05:13:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17860958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidoriKurenaiYume/pseuds/MidoriKurenaiYume
Summary: Princess Rin is having difficulties in her marriage and confides in Arturia, her lady-in-waiting.





	1. A clumsy spring breeze is singing of dawn

**Author's Note:**

> Historic setting, with the characters probably seeming OOC at the beginning, but I hope it will become clearer why later on. Thank you to Christy for giving some suggestions about this fic :D
> 
> Title: from a Kalafina song, B-side of their 20th single ;) the chapters' titles are lyrics from the song, translated by the canta-per-me forum :))

o…o

o…o…o

o…o

Arturia was as silent as usual as she sipped on her tea with one hand, sitting composedly amidst the roses in the garden and absent-mindedly touching her light shawl with the other, to smooth out its creases from its place, draped over her shoulders and falling into her lap.

Princess Rin had gotten used to her lady-in-waiting’s quietness after such a long time of being friends with her, but since she had always disliked silence, it meant that she had to fill it with conversation, no matter how one-sided it could end up being. It was therefore extremely useful that she always had something to talk about and, even though Arturia was quiet, Rin knew that she attentively listened to everything she said. It was usually only after several hours of her talking – and only if requested – that Arturia would intervene with replies of her own.

It should have been a normal afternoon, in which Rin chatted about the matters of the kingdom – the people she had visited, the effort she had put into one project or the other, the contents of her advanced lessons – but unfortunately, on this day it wasn’t going to be the case.

This time, the conversation consisted mainly of Rin pouring out her anger and despondency regarding her husband’s recent conduct.

To be fair, it wasn’t the first time this happened. Rin’s wedding to Prince Shirou had been nothing short of a fairy tale, but that had soon come to a change when Rin had heard of him ‘being very generous’ with a kitchen maid, just a few months into the marriage. Rumours spread quickly at the palace, and Rin had confronted her husband in both fury and dejection, clearly affected by his licentious behaviour.

Shirou had seemed surprised by her anger and offered an apology, which had placated her and had made everything go back to normal… but only until a few weeks later, when other rumours had started to form once more. What was worse, it ended up not being a one-time occurrence, but it kept happening again and again during the following three years.

Every time whispers of her husband’s ‘generosity’ reached her, Rin raged, despaired, brooded and ultimately forgave. And every time, she ranted about Shirou’s infidelities to Arturia, or Saber, as everyone knew her. Rin was furious about what was happening, but her pride wouldn’t allow her to show her true feelings to the rest of the palace; as her most trusted servant and probably only friend, Saber was the sole person who was allowed to see her raw pain.

Rin paused in her latest tirade against her husband to study her silent companion. Saber never seemed dissatisfied in her role as a lady-in-waiting, even though the road that had made her become one had been unconventional to say the least.

Saber had been her lady-in-waiting for the past three and a half years; it had all started with an incident that had happened at the palace, back when Lady Rin had still been only engaged to Prince Shirou. Never comfortable in her pre-determined role as a woman, Saber had disguised herself as a man and had joined the army, quickly rising through the ranks due to her prowess, ultimately ending up in the royal guard. There, she had defended the Prince from an attempted murder, getting injured in the process. She would have been rightfully knighted, if the treatment of her wound hadn’t exposed her real gender.

The entire matter had been considered highly improper, which meant that it had been concealed from the people. Everyone was told that the valiant guard who had protected the Prince had died of his injuries, and Saber had quickly been forced to become the wife of one of the most powerful men in the country, Marquis Gilgamesh. She had only met him once, yet he had seen her spar and considered her skills too good to be wasted; therefore, he insisted on her also becoming the future Princess’s – Rin’s – lady-in-waiting, in order to be her unofficial personal guard as well. That meant that, among other things, Saber was to wear the formal dresses destined to noblewomen, but hers were usually less cumbersome and tailored so that she could move swiftly in case she needed to save her charge’s life.

Ever since she had heard her story from the gossip that had reached her, Rin had always admired Saber’s unprecedented courage. Although she had never asked, out of respect for her lady-in-waiting’s serious and reserved demeanour, Rin had little doubt that Saber’s current married life was anything but strained and unhappy. She hadn’t been given a choice in it and, while she had never complained – to her, at least – Rin had never seen Saber spend time together with her husband Gilgamesh. She seriously doubted they had even consummated their marriage, considering how aloof Saber always was and how bored and completely uncaring Marquis Gilgamesh appeared to be the rare times Rin happened to meet him.

However, no rumours about their marriage had ever reached the Princess, because Saber didn’t live at the royal palace but in a nearby castle of her own, whose servants were apparently rather tight-lipped, at least when compared to her own.

As soon as she got a grip over herself and shook those thoughts away, Rin immediately regretted doing so, since it left her with the unappealing opportunity to once again face her own husband’s unfaithfulness.

Arturia silently looked at her friend over her teacup. She knew that soon it would be requested of her to offer a reply to Rin’s anger, but she was slightly hesitant this time. All the other times when this had happened, Arturia had attempted to convince Rin to have a frank talk with her husband, but her stubbornness and pride had prevented the Princess from following such an advice.

As she didn’t know Prince Shirou herself, Arturia doubted it was wise to give credit to what seemed to be only rumours; furthermore, because of the fact that she did not live at the palace and whenever she was there she was required to always be at Rin’s side, she had very few opportunities to investigate their veracity. All she could do was believe Rin’s suspicions and offer her her honest opinion on them.

When the Princess gave her an expectant look that meant that she wanted to hear a reply, Arturia inwardly readied herself. She had become fond of Rin, and she knew that speaking her mind on this subject was going to upset her, and would probably even be capable of damaging their friendship.

“Are you certain, Rin,” she began slowly, trying to stifle the helplessness she was currently feeling and doing her best to be as gentle as possible, “that what you’re doing is worth it?”

Rin gave her an incredulous and slightly appalled look.

“Fighting for my marriage? Of course it’s worth it! How can you even ask something like that?!”

Arturia held back a grimace, having expected Rin to take offence. She did not know how to phrase it the right way, but Rin was her friend, and she was unwilling to avoid telling her what she truly thought.

“I’m not recommending a course of action nor am I telling you what to do – all I’m doing is offering you my thoughts.” She took a deep breath. “These… these kind of situations have been taking place for over three years now, Rin. _Why_ do you keep insisting on this marriage and on accepting your husband back?”

“Because I love him,” Rin replied, her tone firm and without the slightest tremor.

Arturia prepared herself to deliver the rest of her argument, knowing that it was only going to fuel Rin’s anger further.

“Is it… really worth it?” she asked, her voice soft. “If he keeps being unfaithful, it means that he doesn’t respect you.” She paused. “You deserve better than that.”

Rin’s aqua eyes flashed dangerously, but Arturia didn’t let that deter her.

“If this is how he behaves, it shows that he doesn’t love you back, and he doesn’t deserve your love,” she asserted, infusing as much kindness in her words as she could. “He isn’t–”

“He does,” Rin insisted, interrupting her. “He _does_ deserve my love, and he truly loves me as well.”

Arturia knew that the Princess was already boiling with anger, but it wasn’t enough to make her hold back anymore.

“If he does, then why would he keep doing things that hurt you?”

Rin abruptly stood up, glaring at her lady-in-waiting.

“How dare you,” she snarled. “You don’t understand anything. How _dare_ you tell me to give up on the one I love, when I know he loves me back?!”

There was pure anger in her expression as she regarded Arturia coldly. “ _You_ are doing this… you are doing this only because you are rancorous and spiteful about your own marital life, aren’t you? You are only interfering because your husband neglects you and trapped you in a loveless marriage!”

Arturia’s already pale complexion became completely white as the colour drained from her face with every word that left her friend’s mouth.

But Rin wasn’t finished yet, and went on, ignoring her lady-in-waiting’s sudden pallor, “You are telling me such horrible things only because you are bitter about what was decided for you – about having had your spouse chosen by others! You _envy_ the love I have in my marriage, one that you will never have!”

Even though Rin’s cruel accusations stung, Arturia chose to ignore them for the time being and pressed forward, “Rin, I never said and never will say anything about the love you have for him, I’m talking about the love you have for _yourself–_ ”

“Shut up!” Rin hissed. “He made a mistake but he isn’t really at fault! I’m simply too clingy, and because I’m so demanding, on this occasion he… he strayed–”

“According to what you told me, he strayed on _countless_ occasions.” Arturia was the one to interrupt her this time, and rather vehemently. “And every single time, you forgave him.”

“Because I love him.” Rin’s tone was uncompromising.

“That is your right, but it’s not going to change anything now – every time this happens you despair and suffer deeply, but you forgive him and take him back! It’s an endless cycle–”

“I told you to shut up!” Rin shouted. “You are awful, Saber! Only because you resent the fact that you were forced into an arranged marriage, you–”

“ _That,_ ” Arturia’s voice was so cutting that it stunned Rin into abrupt silence, “is a completely different and private matter, and it has nothing to do with what I’m saying.”

She took a deep breath. “Rin – you can’t let things continue as they are. This entire situation is making you suffer. Talk to your husband about what is happening – if he keeps being unfaithful, please don’t stay with him.”

Rin’s eyes were full of hurt as she suddenly stood up.

“I thought you were my friend, Saber.” Her voice was empty and monochromatic. “I thought I could confide in you, that I could tell you my troubles. Yet all you can think of saying to me is some nonsense about _ending_ my marriage? About leaving the man I love?” Her eyes became icy. “You are no friend of mine.”

Those words felt like a merciless stab in the heart for Arturia. And Rin still wasn’t finished.

Giving her a look full of heated contempt, she spat, “You don’t understand what love is, Saber. You never have and you never will.”

Turning around, she walked away, leaving Arturia alone in the quiet garden.

o…o

o…o…o

o…o


	2. The light will surely fall even on this palce that's still dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for an implicit sex scene.

o…o

o…o…o

o…o

From what Arturia had seen and understood since becoming Rin’s lady-in-waiting, the Prince and Princess didn’t hold as much power as they believed. The land was a monarchy in name only; the true power was held by the Council, and especially by its head – Marquis Gilgamesh.

Given his important position, he had been informed of the discovery of her gender immediately and, once he met her and recognized her as one of the guards he had noticed training, he had surprisingly become interested in her. He had decided to ask her to be his wife, telling her that it was in order to avoid all the possible fortune hunters from pursuing either of them.

Princess Rin didn’t know about the distribution of the real power in her land and was therefore only aware of what rumours had told her, which was that Arturia had been forced to become the Marquis’s wife. As she had learned to know the Princess and saw that she was a kind-hearted and dedicated person, Arturia had come to care about her and had therefore attempted to open her eyes to the true position the monarchy held, but it had proven to be a futile effort, as Rin didn’t seem to wish to have such a conversation.

In the end, since everything the Princess did was to help the ones in need, Arturia had regretfully acknowledged that, since they didn’t put anyone in danger, it was best to leave her beliefs about her position of power as they were, at least for the time being.

After getting closer to her, all of Arturia’s decisions as Rin’s lady-in-waiting had been in her friend’s best interest; they weren’t necessarily always right, but they were always focused on the Princess’s welfare.

That was the main reasons why Rin’s dismissal after their afternoon tea was so hurtful.

Even though Arturia attempted to talk to her again later, Rin refused to speak to her anymore and clearly indicated that their meeting was concluded. While the black-haired Princess didn’t go as far as to banish Arturia from the royal palace, she did tell her guards to escort her out, as she had no desire to see her, for the rest of the day at the very least.

With a heavy heart, Arturia had no choice but to leave and go back to her own home, to the castle where she lived with her husband. Upon meeting her personal maid Irisviel at the entrance a short carriage ride later, Arturia briefly told her that she hadn’t been successful and then requested to have her practice sword prepared.

Taking off two daggers and her real sword, which she always hid in her gowns, she headed for the training grounds.

Seeing her approach, three of her most trusted guards bowed and then assumed a fighting stance, knowing without speaking that she wished to spar. Arturia relished in the physical exercise, perfectly aware of the fact that her guards wouldn’t go easy on her because she was the lady of the castle and would provide her with the challenge she was seeking. In spite of that, and even though it was three against one, it didn’t take her long to gain the upper hand and force them to use more defensive tactics.

When she managed to disarm all three of them with a spin that almost made her body twist around in the air, she noticed from the corner of her eye that a tall figure was approaching.

She did not need to get a better look to guess that it was her husband, and the faint glint coming from the general direction of his arm told her that he was holding a blade and was obviously ready to spar with her as well.

Dismissing her guards with a nod, which they returned before leaving to go back to their posts, she turned around to face her new opponent.

Marquis Gilgamesh had always possessed a natural grace in his movements, and that didn’t change no matter how different the situations were, whether he was holding a speech or holding a sword. Sparring was no exception, and he was not to be underestimated either: all his attacks were elegant and, while not violent, they were also accurate and deadly. She knew this, and was ready to face the challenge.

Although it was merely an evening sparring session and he didn’t therefore display all his abilities to engage in a truly serious fight, he did not insult her by holding back. He was faster than her guards, and that forced her to focus more on defending herself against his fast attacks, making it difficult to retaliate in her tiredness. Even though she didn’t give up – as if she would ever do that – she had no choice but to concentrate on blocking his attempts instead of responding with ones of her own.

It didn’t take long for Gilgamesh to notice this and his eyes narrowed at her, even if not in an overly threatening manner. He took a sudden step forward, compelling her to take one back in instinct. Taking advantage of that, he made a feint to her side and then disarmed her in one fluid movement before she could fully realize that he was tricking her.

This wouldn’t have happened under normal circumstances; even when tired, Arturia was too good a swordswoman to fall for a trick, no matter how quick it was. But this evening, especially after the earlier sparring session with the guards, she was unfocused, her mind once again too preoccupied with thoughts about her discussion with the Princess.

She watched her sword clatter to the ground with a blank expression, her eyes then setting onto the tip of Gilgamesh’s, which he lowered a moment later.

“Arturia,” he said slowly, initiating their first verbal exchange since she had come back from the royal palace. “You are too distracted.”

Her husband was the only person who called her by her name, and she registered it absentmindedly even as her eyes remained blank. She did not offer a reply, since a denial would have been futile, and leaned down carefully to pick up her practice sword, heading then to the armoury to clean it and put it away.

As she had expected, Gilgamesh followed her to the small room, both knowing that no one could overhear them there and both aware that they needed to talk.

Once they were alone, he closed the door noiselessly, before coming near her and addressing her again.

“The Princess ignored and insulted you,” he stated, accurately deducing the outcome of her afternoon tea.

He had likely been able to guess as much from her actions ever since she had come home, and he was fully aware of what she had meant to tell Rin. While he did not agree with his wife’s opinion, he knew that Arturia was fond of the Princess – no matter how childish and irresponsible Gilgamesh instead believed Rin to be – and he knew that whatever had happened during the afternoon had caused Arturia some grief.

As she kept herself locked in her silence, only focusing on finishing cleaning the sword, he sighed and came closer, helping her put the dull blade away.

“Arturia, her immature behaviour isn’t allowed to cause you so much distress.”

His fingers reached for her braids, which were tightly knotted in a chignon, and he deftly began to undo them all, showing off his expertise at something he had clearly long become used to doing. She inclined her head slightly to allow him better access, a growing cascade of locks beginning to fall on her shoulders.

“I know,” she slowly acknowledged, her eyes finally becoming alive as she sighed. “I… I don’t know if I managed to convey her my opinion clearly. But I thought… of course it would be fine if she didn’t agree with me, but I thought she would at least give my words some consideration.”

Having finished untangling her hair, Gilgamesh’s hands reached for her afternoon dress, beginning to untie its many laces on the back with uncharacteristic gentleness and care, softly caressing the skin he progressively exposed to the cool air inside the armoury.

“The Princess isn’t a complete fool,” he surprisingly pointed out, fingers taking their time in tracing his wife’s body that he was slowly freeing from those complicated clothes. “She _will_ think about your words.” He leaned down to brush her blonde locks over her shoulders and kiss the back of her neck. “As will you about hers.”

Arturia shivered when she felt his lips on her exposed skin and turned around, knowing that he was right. It wasn’t truly surprising that, with just a few words, he had managed to calm her worried thoughts and make her have a more positive outlook on the consequences of her actions.

Bringing her hands to the front of his clothes, she undid the clasp that held his cape in place and unhurriedly began to unbutton his vest, making sure to give her task her full attention. She knew that he liked watching her when she did this and as she looked up, she found him indeed staring at her with something intense in his gaze.

“How was the meeting with the King and the Council?” she asked, changing the subject and trying to suppress her small smile.

He grinned at her, clearly telling her that she had failed to hide her amusement from him, arms going around her waist and fingers idly starting to play with her long, unbound tresses.

“Do you truly need to ask?”

Arturia almost did something as undignified as snorting, her attention carefully and successfully divided between undressing him, staring at him and answering his question.

“You took care of everything as usual and just presented the results to them for approval,” she replied evenly.

He smirked slightly.

“The lords were impressed by the idea of an extra book to ‘summarize’ every week’s agricultural harvests, at least in terms of grain and wheat, and will put it into effect immediately.” He gave her a strange look then. “They want to know the identity of my _employees_ who suggested it, but I ignored them of course.”

Arturia nodded, knowing that he could not reveal to the Council that his wife played an active part in all his administrative duties, not when those fools still refused to accept women in the army, much less in politics.

As soon as he obtained full power in the Council, Gilgamesh firmly intended to change that, but so far, Arturia had made him promise not to say anything. She had pointed out that it was best if the rest of the Council underestimated them for the time being, and he had liked that argument, even if he wasn’t happy with the fact that she wasn’t getting recognition for her skills.

However, it wasn’t the right time to discuss it.

He finished untying the last straps and let the rest of her dress fall to the floor, where it was joined by his cape and eventually by the rest of his own clothes. Gilgamesh leaned forward to kiss his wife, his arms going around her now bare body to pull her to him and help her lie down smoothly. Arturia made sure to have him sit down with her, her hands sinking into his blond hair as she deepened their kiss.

A while later, she was lying on top of him, slowly bringing her breath back to normal. He was holding her to him with one arm, while his free hand reached for his cape and used it to envelop her in it tenderly as he carelessly slid on a pair of breeches taken from the armoury.

He held her close to him and kissed her gently, slowly, savouring the feeling of his lips pressed against hers. His fingers traced her collarbone.

“My love.” His hands travelled down, going to rest on her stomach, which showed a small swelling that her clothes had been rendering imperceptible ever since it had appeared a couple of weeks before.

“How is our child?” he murmured, caressing her skin.

Arturia shrugged, almost subtly snuggling closer.

“I’m certain he or she is fine. I don’t feel too different yet. Perhaps just a bit more tired than usual.”

His soft caresses didn’t stop, and she leaned into him, feeling content. She appreciated the lack of fussing on her husband’s part, which didn’t however mean that he wasn’t concerned about her health. He obviously worried more about her ever since they had found out that she was expecting, but he had quickly – _very_ quickly – learned not to be overbearing, knowing that she could handle herself and would never do anything that put their child at risk. She had talked with the physician herself, inquiring about her usual sparring sessions, and it had been confirmed that she could keep them up for at least a few more months.

As she was a reserved person and Gilgamesh was able to respect that, he wasn’t about to show his protectiveness in public, but it was becoming more and more difficult. Sooner or later they were going to have to talk about it and decide how to handle things.

Nestling herself even closer to her husband, Arturia sighed, frowning slightly as her mind went back to Princess Rin. She had never been one to share her personal life and wasn’t used to share anything about her marriage, but it would have perhaps been better if she had told Rin the truth about her relationship with her husband.

Rin was clearly convinced that she was unhappy about her ‘arranged’ nuptials, despite the fact that such an idea couldn’t have been further from the truth. Her reciprocal attraction to Gilgamesh had been born almost instantly, and even though they had had to work through weeks of heated fights to be able to have their first normal conversation, their marriage had been a mutual choice from the beginning and a few months together had unpredictably managed to make them fall in love. Even though they had not publicized it in any way, they had both invested their time seriously in order to create a surprisingly strong bond of trust between them.

Of this, Rin was completely unaware. It was true that the Princess had always been respectful and had never asked anything intrusive about her lady-in-waiting’s private life, but she had also never done anything to confirm her assumptions – formed through gossip – and had kept believing that Arturia was trapped in a loveless marriage of convenience.

Arturia stared down at her belly, her frown deepening for a moment and then distending when Gilgamesh’s hold tightened around her. Rin had no idea that she was not only in a happy marriage, but also pregnant with their first child. While not a selfish person by any means, the Princess usually thought solely of matters and situations that were showed to her and didn’t often dig under the surface to uncover the whole truth surrounding rumours.

The same was true for the Prince and Princess’s marriage. As she merely had Rin’s account about Prince Shirou’s behaviour, Arturia couldn’t reach any plausible conclusion about what was truly happening at the royal palace; she had been asked to give her opinion only about the facts that Rin had presented to her, and she had done so. She had known that Rin would be indignant, but she had refused to let that stop her from being honest.

The result was that she had lost the Princess’s friendship and perhaps her trust, making it much more difficult to protect her.

Her thoughts must have been obvious, because Gilgamesh leaned forward to kiss her once again, nuzzling her cheek for a moment.

“It will take her some time,” he recognized after a short silence. “But she won’t forsake your friendship.”

Her husband’s confidence wasn’t going to convince her, but at least for the time being, it was enough to soothe her worries; and slowly, she let herself drift off to sleep in his arms.

o…o

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o…o


	3. Let's just gently greet a dazzling dawn

o…o

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o…o

Spring was a good season, Arturia decided.

Not only was the weather slowly becoming warmer, the days were becoming longer and the people were becoming busier but more dedicated as well. It meant more time to spend outside and resuming physical training in the open instead of indoors. Everything truly seemed to be reborn in spring.

And of course, another event that had made spring memorable this year was the birth of her child.

Gilgamesh had done well in keeping his fussing under control, at least until she had been eight months pregnant. From then on, he had been fretting over her like a mother hen, snarling at anyone and anything that came close to his precious wife. She had been too tired and irritable due to the difficult pregnancy to put an end to his unreasonable behaviour, and had ultimately let him take care of her his own way. Spring had given her serenity, helping her discuss and decide things with her husband in a more reasonable manner.

And it was still spring, just a few weeks after their child was born, when Princess Rin came to pay Arturia an informal visit.

Rin hadn’t invited her lady-in-waiting back to the royal palace for many weeks following their discussion, and Arturia’s maid Irisviel had let the palace’s servants know about Arturia’s pregnancy once she was six months along and therefore unable to hide it anymore. A formal note of congratulations from the royal family had arrived after their son’s birth, but Rin hadn’t let them know anything on a personal level, and that had been saddening for Arturia.

When the Princess’s arrival was announced, Gilgamesh was sitting next to Arturia on the large couch, his arms around her as she played with their son and rocked him gently in her arms. He didn’t even consider the possibility of standing up politely to greet their visitor, preventing Arturia from doing the same, and simply gave Princess Rin a chilling glare once she crossed the threshold.

Rin wasn’t easily intimidated and therefore held her head high, and she wasn’t going to insist on petty formalities either. Her eyes lingered on her hosts’ relaxed sitting position with some confusion and surprise, even after Arturia gestured for her to sit down on the other couch. She seemed even more astonished when Gilgamesh took the baby boy from his wife’s arms with a brief kiss and took his leave from them both, giving them privacy.

The Princess clearly wasn’t expecting such a picture of domestic bliss at her lady-in-waiting’s house, but she was well-mannered enough not to comment out loud about it, in spite of the fact that her face betrayed her thoughts.

Arturia decided it was time to break the silence.

“I hope you are well, Rin.”

The Princess looked at her and nodded slowly, giving her implicit reply, and Arturia continued, her tone remaining kind and unassuming, “I hope the Prince is well too.”

At this, Rin’s aqua eyes looked slightly more animated and she smiled a little, even if only for a moment.

“He is, thank you,” she answered the indirect question. “You were right, Saber–”

She interrupted herself, clearly having to struggle with herself to get the words out, but she didn’t allow the inner fight to make her hesitate for long.

“You were right – I should have spoken to him.” She huffed at herself, shaking her head, and as she admitted what she had done wrong, her expression looked more distended than Arturia had seen it in a long while. “Shirou… Shirou never cheated on me. It was all a misunderstanding, and gossip started because he helps everyone in need, the servants reported it all wrong, and I thought… I jumped to conclusions without evidence.”

Arturia smiled back, genuinely happy and relieved that the whole situation had just been a major misconstruction of events.

“I’m very glad, Rin,” she said after a moment. “It’s wonderful that you and the Prince could clarify everything. It’s the best possible ending to the unpleasant situation that seemed to take place.”

Rin nodded in agreement, but then looked sheepish again, lowering her eyes before looking up at Arturia again, her cheeks slightly pink but unwilling to break their gaze.

“I offer you my apologies for the thoughtless and hurtful words I threw at you the last time we met, Saber.” Her voice was small as she spoke the formal words for the apology, but she wasn’t going to back down from taking responsibility for her actions. “You were pointing out the truth to me, and all I did was ignore you and insult you. I’m very sorry for that.”

Arturia made to speak, plainly intending to stop her apology and bring things back to normal between them, but Rin wasn’t done yet.

“I also apologize… for my wrong and uncharitable assumptions about your marriage.” Her smile was now self-critical. “I was completely mistaken about your relationship with your husband.”

Her eyes lowered, and she now looked extremely abashed. “I’m sorry for never being a friend to you, Saber. I made assumptions about your life with condescension, and then yelled at you about it, without any regard whatsoever for your privacy. And while you always listened to me and gave me advice on everything I asked of you, _I_ never listened to _you_.”

“Rin, that’s enough apologies,” Arturia said quickly, starting to become a bit uncomfortable. “I’m thankful for your words, but any further apology is unnecessary. I have to apologize myself.”

Looking at her earnestly, she continued, “Advising you to leave your husband was too hasty an action to suggest, and I’m sorry for trying to push such a solution on you without having the full picture.” She paused briefly. “If it’s fine for you, I will be happy to resume being your lady-in-waiting, unofficial bodyguard and lifelong friend – if you want.”

Rin smiled widely.

“I would appreciate your friendship above anything else,” she replied, her smile becoming more similar to a grin. “But all the other things you listed are fine too.”

She briefly glanced at the closed door, and hesitated. “You have now responsibilities as a mother as well though–”

“Nothing prevents me from being a mother and performing my duties as your friend at the same time,” Arturia interjected gently.

Rin seemed to hesitate again, but upon studying Arturia’s determined features for a moment, settled for an expression that was a mix of acceptance, wonder and delight.

“What if I told you that I’ll have a child soon as well?” she asked, one dark eyebrow raising at her interlocutor.

Arturia tilted her head, examined the Princess carefully, and then shook her head.

“I don’t think you are pregnant – at least not yet,” she replied, and Rin pouted.

“You can still see through me far too easily,” she mumbled grumpily. “But now that everything is fine with Shirou, I’ll become pregnant soon. Just wait and see!”

Rin’s grin only widened as Arturia couldn’t prevent some slight consternation and exasperation from appearing on her face, and the Princess couldn’t stop a full-blown laughter when the blonde woman shook her head in amusement at her antics.

Indeed, Arturia thought as she smiled at her newfound friend, spring was a wonderful season.

o…o

o…o…o

o…o

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this story, thank you so much for reading!!! :D  
> (I'm [here](https://agilartlogbook.tumblr.com/) on tumblr with my friend Christy)


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